Your marketing strategy is calling, and it’s got customers on the line.

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Design At Work creates a marketing plan to get your marketing done and done right.

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Once you’ve got your company’s brand set, some key deliverables such as your website and sales collateral are complete, and you have a pretty good idea of who your target customer is, it’s time to start marketing. For some, this is where they get stuck. For Design At Work, this is where we thrive.

A marketing strategy defines the direction for your marketing-related activities. It helps identify the needs of your customers and it determines what channels you will use to reach them. It’s finding the advertising or promotional avenues your company should consider, all while creating a marketing plan to execute the creative and the management of that advertising.

Sound like a lot? It can be. But not if you have a marketing agency on your side to create and execute your plan.

Why does my business need a marketing strategy?

Multicolored content marketing calendar arranged by month and topic.
An example of content marketing strategy in the form of a content calendar.
Sample project action list featuring bulleted list of to-do items.
This project action list offers a window into the way we organize and plan our content marketing strategy.
Sample media strategy sample with itemized budget.
A media strategy sample that exemplifies our approach to planning and budgeting.

It’s typically pretty obvious when a company doesn’t have a marketing strategy. A few print ads here. A billboard there. Sprinkle in some digital ads around there. It’s erratic, confusing and ineffective. When you have a strong marketing plan in place, you’re ensuring your message is effective, frequent and that you’re able to keep an eye on that ROI.

A typical marketing strategy is driven by a key set of variables to help not only guide your marketing, but also your business. They provide a direction for your B2B or B2C business and a standard to follow to appeal to customers. Alone these elements are essential to growing a business, and when built into a marketing strategy, they become the jet fuel to your marketing rocket.

  • Target audience. Your target audience is a group of individuals most likely to be interested in your product or service. Typically, these individuals will share common traits or demographics like job role, interests, age or location. Once you hone in on who your true target audience is, the road to a successful marketing and advertising becomes simpler.
  • Value proposition. To help your customers clearly understand what makes your product or service different, you need a value proposition. It’s a statement that clearly defines what benefit your company will provide, so they’ll want to buy your product or work with you. If you don’t have a value proposition, you aren’t giving your potential customers a reason to want to buy from you.
  • Branding. Once you’ve defined your value proposition, the next step is giving your company and that value prop a platform to visually distinguish you from competitors. A brand gives your product or service meaning and helps to shape the personality of your business in a consumer’s mind. At Design At Work, a branding campaign is the foundation for every marketing strategy we create. For marketing to truly be effective, a brand must be established to generate and maintain brand recognition.
  • Promotion. As one of the 4 Ps of marketing1, promotion is all about what goes in to informing potential customers about your company. From advertising to direct marketing to public relations, there are multiple techniques that go in to promoting your business. And it’s one of the major elements of making your marketing strategy a winning one.

What is included in a marketing plan?

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A marketing plan is a strategic roadmap that businesses use to organize, perform and track their marketing strategy over a given period.2 And marketing plans can include different marketing strategies for different initiatives or goals. A marketing plan can be influenced by environmental forces such as a company’s industry, mission or budget. When it comes to more focused campaigns such as product launches or grand openings, a separate plan may be needed to ensure the framework is in place to successfully market these events. And when you have a great marketing team, like Design At Work, the ability to develop, execute and manage a plan becomes that much easier.

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Types of
Marketing Plans.

  • Quarterly or annual marketing plans. Timeline-based and often all-encompassing for a company’s marketing efforts, the plans focus on brand awareness and growing profitability with more large-scale marketing projects over the long term.
  • Marketing management plan. Combined with brand management, a marketing management plan keeps tabs on the short-term projects needed to engage and drive sales on a consistent basis. At Design At Work, we develop a 90-day plan to outline all strategies and the deliverables (along with clear deadlines), so our clients know when and where they will see their marketing and marketing plan in action.
  • Content marketing plan. This includes an outline of topics, channels and tactics for pushing out your company’s content, whether through blogging, social media or news stories.
  • Event, opening or product launch plan. Typically focused on drawing in potential customers, these plans are key to identifying all the channels and assets needed to promote and create a buzz, and drive new business or sales.

B2B or B2C: Marketing strategy benefits everyone.

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Whether large or small, B2C or B2B, retail or restaurant, professional or industrial, every company should have a marketing strategy in its arsenal. It’s a guide to ensure your company’s objectives are met, while bringing together your executive team and your marketing team so you’re all working toward the same goal. And at its core, a marketing strategy sets up your advertising and marketing plan so customers find your products and services, conveying a clear message: You are there to satisfy their needs. Design At Work takes a focused approach to your marketing, ensuring that your marketing strategy — and your marketing plan — serves your business well, no matter the size.

let’s get your business going with a marketing strategy!

I think it’s time we talked about it.